FYI...this is a long post.
Well, my due week had come and gone and I was getting to the really uncomfortable stage. I had already decided earlier that if she wasn't here by 11-2-11, I would go get the same acupuncture that "helped" Dylan make his entrance into this world. I mentioned this before in Dylan's birth story, but supposedly if the baby is fully developed and ready to come, you can go get 2 rounds of acupuncture and the babies are normally born within 24 hours of your last treatment. This worked for Dylan AND Cheyenne - WOOHOO!!!
On 11-2-11 I went and got a round of acupuncture at 5:30pm. During the session I could feel major Braxton Hicks (BH), but nothing painful. That night I woke up with a few more BH, but other than that I had a decent night's sleep and woke up feeling good. I had my Dr's appointment at 11:20am and I hadn't progressed any from the week before. I was still at 3 cm and 70% effaced. My Dr informed me at the appointment that I could very well go another week and she had me set up my next appointment for 11-9-11...not what I wanted to hear.
Trey and I both left the appointment a little bummed. We went straight from the Dr's office to my next acupuncture session. The acupuncturist that I saw this time (there are a bunch that work at one facility) had been a midwife for 10 years before she started practicing Chinese medicine. During my session she felt all around my belly and realized that Cheyenne was posterior instead of anterior. She told me that the reason I had not gone into labor was because the baby wasn't able to get in the right position in the birth canal because of the way she was turned. She had me stand up and she stood behind me and lifted my belly up and brought it back to my spine. As she was lifting she was kind of making a turning motion at the same time. I could feel Cheyenne moving and by the end of the session she had turned 1/2 way around. She told me to go home and keep doing the abdominal lifts and a few other exercises and she felt like I would go into labor rather fast....boy was she right.
Even after the acupuncturist had told me all these things, I still didn't "feel" like I was going to go into labor anytime soon. We came home from our appointments and had a normal rest of the day. Dylan and I went to Publix, Trey and Dylan went to the park and that night we ordered pizza and finished getting all of Cheyenne's clothes washed and put away. Throughout the day I would do my exercises, which would cause me to contract some, but again...nothing painful.
By 11pm I was laying in bed watching Trey clean out our bathroom cabinets. I kind of feel like this pregnancy Trey was the one that nested...the cabinets had been bothering him for awhile and he decided that night to organize and clean them out. That took him about an hour and we talked while he worked. He took a shower after and went to bed. I was wide awake...sometimes acupuncture can give you a lot of energy and I wasn't sleepy at all. I was reading in bed and at 1:15am I noticed I was having some consistent BH, but nothing painful. At 2:30am I felt like the BH were getting stronger, but I was still reading and laying in bed. I got up at 3am to go the bathroom and for the first time had a contraction that took my breath away. I went and got Trey's phone, which has a contraction app on it and started timing the contractions. I quickly realized things were getting going and happening at a rather fast pace. I woke Trey up at 3:50am as I was bent over the bed having a major contraction-what a way to wake up! He called Jess at 4:05am and told her to come over quickly and to let my parents know they needed to start heading this way. At 4:30am Trey realized the contractions were 2 minutes apart and he called JD to come and watch Dylan while Jess drove us to the hospital. JD got there at 4:55am and we quickly left for the hospital. The car ride was by far the worst part of the whole experience. I was in transition, so the contractions were very uncomfortable and coming quickly. We got to the hospital at 5:20am and the check-in people took one look at me and immediately called labor and delivery and had someone come and wheel me upstairs. I got to the room at 5:30 and when the nurse checked me a few minutes later, I was 100% effaced and 6 cm. I changed into a gown and she was trying to get a hep-lock in my arm when I got the first urge to push. About that time, the Dr first came in, and I told her I was having the urge to push. She checked me again (about 30 minutes from the last time she checked) and I was 10 cm and the baby's head was crowning - She immediately called for the delivery team. The Dr broke my water as I was pushing, which was an extremely odd sensation to be delivering a baby and your water breaking at the same time. Within 15 minutes I was holding Cheyenne in my arms.
So, basically the labor came out of nowhere and it was fast and furious, but once it was all over I am so glad everything happened the way it did. The nurses were awesome and the Dr on call was amazing. Trey and I were both hoping she would be the one delivering Cheyenne and everything worked out just the way we prayed it would.
Since she came so fast, my parents were still in Chattanooga when she arrived. JD was still at our house watching Dylan and Jess was with us in the room sending updates to family and friends. Once my parents got to the house they loaded up Dylan and brought him to the hospital. At first Dylan didn't really care one way or the other about Cheyenne. He would look at her and say baby, but was more interested in his new toys. By the end of the second night he was more aware of her and wanted to kiss her head and would ask to see her face. Once we got home he warmed up more and wanted to hold her and kiss her. So far he has been really good with her and I can only hope it stays that way.
Cheyenne is a pretty chill baby so far. She sleeps all day and wants to party all night. She isn't fussy during the night, but she wants to be held, which is a little hard to do when you are trying to sleep. Trey and I both are taking this in stride. We now understand how fast this stage flies by and we want to cherish each phase she goes through, so we are cherishing the sleepless nights right now :) For the next 2 weeks we are going to have family here to help us, which makes it easier to function during the day :)
It's crazy to think we are now a family of 4...that I now have a son and a daughter. God has truly blessed us. We thank Him daily for these blessings and pray for more blessings (children) in the future, as He sees fit. His will is our will!
